General Notes

Robert de Montgomery, eldest son, sometimes called "Robert of Belesme," the town in Perche in Normandy where he had great possessions. He had the great inheritance of his father and mother in Normandy, was Count of Belesme and Alencon and in England was Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury and other manors of his father. It is impossible to do full justice to the character and life of Robert in these notes. He was knighted by King William at the seige of Fresney in 1073 in recognition of his valorous and chivalrous conduct during the seige. He was between 45 and 50 in 1098, when at his brother's death he succeeded to the inheritance. He was the oldest, but for some reason his brother Hugh succeeded. He took the part of Robert of Normandy, eldest son of William I, against King Henry I, and because of his rebellion against Henry he was forced to forfeit his possessions in England when retiring into Normandy, and continuing his turbulent practices there he was seized, imprisoned, and the next year brought over to England, where he was confined at the Castle of Warham in the County of Dorset and starved himself to death. He was accounted the richest and most wicked man of the age he lived in. If wanting in the wisdom and prudence of his father, he probably surpassed him in boldness and valour. A true soldier, he was everready to face danger and adventure and apparently never happy unless in the turmoil and horrors of war. This ended the House of Montgomery in England as a power it had been earlier.